


The Lap of Luxury

by JayDelahaye



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Crack, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Humor, Prompt Fic, the doctor is turned into a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 15:17:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3901036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayDelahaye/pseuds/JayDelahaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose visits her mum, but this time she has a feline companion in tow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lap of Luxury

**Author's Note:**

> To fill a prompt from whatwecanfic: "Write a fic where an alien race (or something) turns the doctor into a cat for a week and Rose has to take care of him. I need this fic but am not in a state to write it… the world needs this fic! Bonus points: Jackie!!!"
> 
> I wrote this at the end of the day after three glasses of wine. Have fun!

“Doctor, _no_ , get down from there! You’re going to break something.” _Crash!_ “Okay, you’re going to break something _else_. Stop it, you’re scratching me! Put those claws away! Ow! Get back here!”

Rose ran into her room and dove under the bed, muttering to herself and cursing the Doctor. Her mother’s voice startled her and she hit her head on the boxspring, emerging empty-handed despite her efforts.

“Rose? What on earth are you doing? Himself went and parked that box of his in the living room again,” Jackie said, leaning in the doorway. “Where is he anyway?”

She sighed. “It’s a long story.” Before she could look under the bed again, a brown blur shot out from under it and into the kitchen. 

“Was that a _cat_? I nailed the flap shut, you were always going on about strays…”

“Yes- no- sort of-” Rose stammered, scrambling to her feet and following the blur. She cornered it and scooped it into her arms like a baby, though it wriggled against her. 

“Oh isn’t he gorgeous!” Jackie cooed, reaching out to rub the cat’s belly. It was a sleek, long-haired brown tabby, with big brown eyes, and it squirmed and hissed when she pet him. “Bit of a temper on him, though? Where’d you find him?

Rose struggled with the unhappy cat and eventually let him go. He leapt onto a kitchen chair and began grooming himself meticulously where Jackie had touched him. “Remember how I said it was a long story?”

“You said that about the Doctor.”

“That _is_ the Doctor,” Rose finally admitted, gesturing to the cat. 

“What? You mean he changed his face and then he changed his _species_?”

“ _He_ didn’t, some aliens did! He went and ran his mouth off again, they turned him into a cat as punishment. He ran an emergency programme to get us back here.” The Doctor-cat looked at Rose indignantly. “I’m not going to say you didn’t deserve it, you were quite rude to them.” 

“Is he stuck like this?”

“No, it’ll wear off in a week. I was hoping to go out and get some supplies, but _somebody_ takes issue with the idea of cat food and litter boxes.” The Doctor-cat narrowed his eyes at Rose and jumped down from the chair, sauntering off towards the TARDIS in the living room. “I suppose he expects the TARDIS will take care of him, but first he’s gotta get over that grating without getting his claws stuck.” 

Sure enough, a pitiful meow sounded from inside the TARDIS after a few moments, and Rose had to go rescue him.

***

By the end of the week, the Doctor-cat had stopped jumping up on things and breaking them, and had settled into his feline routine rather nicely. He sat on Rose’s lap while they watched telly, purring loudly as she stroked his soft fur. Rose had to imagine that this would be what playing with the Doctor’s hair would be like - trust him to have really great hair, even as a cat. Jackie tried to put a collar on him and give him treats, which he hissed at before retreating to the TARDIS. Rose had put a rug down on the grating so he could make it across the console room to wherever it was in the ship he found food and facilities.

“I quite like this version of him,” Jackie remarked during an advert break that evening. “Could meow for England, sure, but at least he doesn’t act like I’m supposed to understand him.”

The Doctor-cat gazed at her serenely, unable to muster even a dirty look when Rose was petting him. 

“He’s pretty cute, isn’t he?” Rose said. “You should adopt one of your own, when he turns back.”

Jackie laughed. “Oh, I don’t know.”

“You could find one that actually likes you,” she teased.

“He likes me, just has a funny way of showing it. Don’t you, Doctor?” Jackie said, scratching him behind the ears. The Doctor-cat closed his eyes and reluctantly enjoyed the feeling.

“It could keep you company while we’re away.” Rose’s voice was a little small and distant, and the Doctor-cat butted his head against her arm. 

“Company?”

“I worry about you sometimes, Mum,” Rose admitted. “All alone in this flat. I know we don’t visit as often as you’d like, but maybe if you had a pet you wouldn’t be so lonely.”

“Oh sweetheart, I’m not lonely,” Jackie said, scooting closer to Rose on the couch. “I get out and about, visit Bev and Howard and cousin Mo. I still do hair, the clients are a hoot. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“But I do, Mum,” Rose said, sniffing back a few tears. “We always had each other, but now I’m away all the time, and you-”

“And I am so proud of you, for growing up and following your dreams,” Jackie interrupted. “Heaven knows I’ve not always liked this one,” she said, nodding at the Doctor-cat, “but he makes you happy. Travelling makes you happy. I can put up with not seeing you and a few broken coffee tables if I know that you’re out there, doing what you love and helping people all over the universe. I don’t need a cat.” 

Rose wiped her eyes and leaned over to hug her mum, awkwardly shifting her lap so the Doctor-cat got annoyed and wandered off. Eventually Jackie went to bed and Rose fell asleep, sprawled on the couch, a movie forgotten on the telly. The Doctor-cat came back to her, stretched out over her legs, and fell asleep himself.

***

Rose woke the next morning with an uncomfortable weight on her legs and a bare foot twitching next to her face. “What the- Bloody hell! Doctor! Get off me!”

Both of them flailed and scrambled apart, the Doctor falling to the floor and Rose backing up against the arm of the couch. The Doctor apologized profusely as he tried to get to his feet, and Jackie burst out of her room at the commotion.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, put some clothes on!” she shrieked, throwing the afghan from the back of the couch at the Doctor.

“Oi! I just got up! Give me a minute!” The Doctor wrapped the blanket around him like a towel and pouted at Rose laughing hysterically and shielding her eyes on the couch. 

“Did you have to fall asleep on me knowing you’d be changing back today?” she managed to get out between giggles. 

The Doctor tugged at his ear. “I kinda… kinda forgot? What?! You were so nice to me as a cat!”

“I’m always nice to you!”

“You never pet me, or gave me toys, or let me sit on your lap!”

“Would you like to sit on my lap, Doctor?” Rose teased. 

“Enough of that, you two,” Jackie huffed. “I’m making breakfast.” She wandered into the kitchen, and Rose kept sniggering. 

“Actually, Rose Tyler,” the Doctor said, striding over to the couch and leaning over her, hands on either side of her, “I’d love to sit on your lap, and have you pet my hair. It felt really nice.”

Rose grabbed him around his middle and pulled him to the couch, then ran her fingers through his hair. “It does feel really nice.” 

The Doctor closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, but then started coughing. “Sorry, just a- a tickle-” He kept coughing, getting worse and worse, then ran to the loo.

“I don’t know, Doctor,” Rose called. “Sounds like a hairball to me!”


End file.
